Yumble Kids: Meal Delivery Review + Discount Code

Disclaimer: This is not a sponsored post. However, I was sent the product to facilitate a review. As with every review you’ll find on this blog, all thoughts and opinions are honest, unbiased, and completely my own.

Like any parent of a toddler, I’ve developed some pretty major anticipatory dread associated with dinner time. Ryland went from a 1-year-old who would eat pretty much everything to a 2-year-old whose only consistent food preferences are yogurt, cheese, and fruit pouches.

I’m not a big fan of meal planning to begin with, and recently, with having to take Ryland’s meals into account has turned it into a task that looks like this:

Every time we’ve found an easy dinner food Ryland seems to enjoy, say frozen wontons or veggie burgers, she then decides she passionately hates it at the next meal (typically only after we buy a 10lb bulk supply of it from Costco). A lot of her dinners are fed almost immediately to our dog, George (really I could just save a step and put them in his bowl directly).

I also have learned that there is nothing more stressful and exhausting than trying ot put together a meal for a hungry 2-year-old at 5pm. It’s not easy to cook or come up with an idea when you literally have a 30lb human hanging off your legs or wailing in the middle of the kitchen.

I want Ryland to be exposed to a variety of nutritious, tasty foods, but it’s been a struggle lately, especially with a 6-month-old to take care of. There are just too many moving parts around dinner time, the baths, the bottles, the dog dinner, the fixing the adult dinners (and before you suggest it, I’ve tried just giving Ryland whatever we eat, 99% of the time she won’t touch it). And so I’ve been on the lookout for something to simplify life a little.

Basically, it’s like Blue Apron or Hello Fresh or any other meal delivery subscription service, only for children and with fun, kid-friendly and nutritious meals fully prepared and ready to go. There’s no chopping, sauteeing, or preparing necessary. The meals are individually packed, fully cooked, fresh and ready-to-go. All you have to do is heat them in either the microwave or oven.

How it Works:

You can choose from either the 6, 12, or 24 meals-per-week plan (I tried the 6, because I really only needed these kinds of meals for dinner, Ryland does fine with good old PB&Js at lunchtime). There are a ton of different meal options you can look through on their online menu. And you get to pick the ones you/your kid will want. Then, you’ll get an adorable, insulated box delivered to your front door.

It is a weekly subscription, but you can skip any week and cancel at any time.

The Cost:

Plans are priced weekly and range depending on how many meals you choose, from $6.99/meal to $7.99. However, I’m going to give you an awesome discount code you can use to get 30% off your first two orders!!

Our Experience with Yumble:

The Process:

It was really fun to go online and pick out meals I thought Ryland would like. Ryland doesn’t have any allergies luckily, but the meals are clearly marked as gluten free, nut free, dairy free, etc., so I think this would be very doable with dietary restrictions. We went with the Taco-Rific (taco meat with spanish rice, corn and green beans), Gobble Meat Up (turkey kale meatballs, sweet potato mash, and popcorn cauliflower), the Holy Moly Ravioli (cheese ravioli with dark chocolate pretzels and apricots), Yes Please Mac n Cheese (protein-infused mac and cheese + cheesy broccoli tots), Chicken Nuggets (with hash brown potatoes and dried apples), and a Naan Pizza option (with dried apples and chocolate pretzels).

When the box arrived everything was perfectly cold and insulated with ice packs. And each meal was packed individually and clearly labeled.

There were also these cute little tokens that come with each box (each token is worth a different number of “points” that add up for prizes from a catalogue) that you can use as a reward system for good behavior, which I know could really come in handy for picky eaters (like my daughter 😉 )

The Food:

My perspective: So I’m one of those parents that try most of the food my kids eat (and from time to time polishes off their leftovers), so I tried all of Ryland’s meals, and they were legitimately really GOOD. Like I kind of want adult versions for myself. They definitely were a step up from most frozen kid meals you get at the grocery store in terms of flavor. I really loved the mac n’ cheese and broccoli tots and turkey meatballs especially. My husband tried a few bites too and also was impressed.

Ryland’s perspective: Overall Ryland actually did really well with these. Especially once she got past the initial toddler stubbornness/refusal to try new foods (it helped when I was ravenously helping myself to food off her plate). She really LOVED the chicken nuggets, ravioli, naan pizza, and chicken nugget meals. And the chocolate pretzel dessert was obviously a massive hit.

The Verdict:

I really loved our experience with Yumble. Obviously, Ryland didn’t lick her plate clean every night (because hello, picky 2-year-old) but she seemed to enjoy these meals far more than the typical plate I prepare for her. She seemed to be really into all the different flavors and textures and really spent a while trying each part of the meals versus just tossing her plate to the dog (again, something that happens a lot around these parts).

My favorite part though was that it felt like a little mental vacation for me. For 6 days I knew that a healthy, fresh, flavorful, and EASY dinner for Ryland was in the fridge and ready to go. It seems small, but for a mom, being able to cross one thing off the list was HUGE. I didn’t have to mess around with pots and pans at 5pm (aka peak cranky time for both babies). I didn’t have to think about what groceries to buy for her dinners.

I also liked that these meals broke a pattern I sometimes get into, which is to offer Ryland a million different things for dinner, hoping something sticks. I’ll make her one thing, she’ll refuse it, I’ll make another, etc and etc. It’s frustrating for both of us and also not a great way to encourage healthy eating habits. With these Yumble meals, I put it in front of her, sometimes with some additional fruit or yogurt or something, and then was done. If she didn’t eat it, that was it. I had given her a complete and healthy meal and knew that my work was done.

I will absolutely do Yumble again. It’s not something we would do every single week, but I think it’s a really great option for when you know you have a busy week coming up (lots of activities/classes/work stuff/etc.) or if you’re going through a mentally taxing time with your kids (teething, sleep regression, etc) and just need one thing to be easy. Sometimes as a parent, one easy thing in a day can really make all the difference in your mood and outlook.

So as a special treat for y’all, I have a code that will get you a whopping 30% off your first two orders of Yumble. Seriously, do yourself a favor and try it on a busy summer week when you just want one less thing to worry about. Give yourself some parent grace and spend the time you would have spent cooking/preparing dinner cuddling your kid or playing in the backyard.